Hugo Broos has responded defiantly to critics and those calling for his resignation, insisting that four decades in football management have made him immune to outside noise following Bafana Bafana‘s 1-1 draw with Czechia at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Belgian coach has faced scrutiny heading into the tournament, with a section of South African football supporters questioning whether he remains the right man to lead the nation after an uninspiring performance that in the World Cup opener against hosts Mexico last week.
But Broos, who is now an an eight game winless run was in no mood to entertain the negativity, instead pointing to the extraordinary journey Bafana Bafana have been on since he took charge.
“If you see five years ago, nobody knew Bafana Bafana, and look what we did in these five years and now the results are not what people expect,” Broos said, reflecting on a tenure that has included qualification for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, a third-place finish at the same tournament in 2023, and ultimately a historic return to the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 2010.
For Broos, the issue lies in the shifting expectations of supporters who have perhaps forgotten just how far the team has come.
“They don’t think ‘are we able’, they just expect things,” he said, “and then you get the negative side of my job, the criticism, people wanting you to resign, and whatever.”
Yet the 74-year-old veteran, who has managed across Africa and Europe throughout a long and decorated career, made clear that such criticism rolls off him entirely.
“Okay — but I’m 40 years in this job, the criticism is just water off my body. They can write and say what they want, I do what I think I need to do and today I think I did what I needed to do.”
With one more group game remaining, Broos appears confident South Africa could progress to the knockout stages – as they return to Mexico next week to face South Korea.